Renter awakens to find rat crawling on his chest, sues for $25k

A Northwest Portland tenant has filed a $25,000 lawsuit claiming that his landlord did little to stop a rat infestation so bad that he awoke one day to find a rat crawling across his chest.

Gary Chavez says in his lawsuit that he or his housemates told the property owner twice about the rats plaguing the rental home in February, but she only sent out a repairman who offered to set out some traps and said it wasn’t likely that the owner would hire an exterminator.

The next day Chavez, a student, was on his way to classes when he reached into his backpack and felt a rat scratch and bite into his hand.

“He pulled his bleeding hand from the backpack,” the lawsuit says. “... After coaxing the rat out of his backpack, he found his prescription insulin had been chewed and eaten by the rat.”

The suit -- filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court -- says Chavez went to an urgent care clinic, which instructed him on how to keep his wound from getting infected and gave him information about rabies prevention.

The suit names Margaret Baricevic of Washington County as the defendant and identifies her as manager and owner of the property. She couldn’t be reached for comment.

Chavez’s three housemates -- Danielle Avila, Alfonso Padilla and Victoria Perez -- also are suing Baricevic for another $24,000.

The suit claims that the four housemates agreed to pay $2,030 a month in rent starting last October. The ranch-style home was built in 1973 and is 1,100 square feet with three bedrooms and one bathroom, according to property records. It’s located on the northern edge of the Northwest residential area and overlooks the industrial district next to it.

The suit describes the housemates as having jobs or attending a university, although the suit doesn’t specify which school.

The suit states that shortly after the housemates moved in, they noticed the smell of mold and mildew. In late November, garbage collectors stopped picking up the trash because Baricevic had failed to pay the bill, the lawsuit claims. The suit states that the housemates notified Baricevic of these problems, but she didn’t take action and garbage accumulated on the property for weeks.

On Jan. 31, one of the housemates told Baricevic that the mold and mildew problem in the garage was getting worse, but Baricevic didn’t do anything in response, the suit claims.

Shortly after that, in February, the housemates inspected the water heater and discovered a large nest of rat feces, dead rats, garbage and moldy items, according to the suit. They immediately called and texted Baricevic, who told them “she would send a ‘repair man’ but did not otherwise take immediate action,” the suit claims.

The suit states that Chavez, Avila, Padilla and Perez began to feel uncomfortable at the rental home, lose sleep and suffer from lost productivity at work and school.

The lawsuit describes how Chavez awoke to the rat crawling across his chest and shortly after suffered the rat bite. The suit states Chavez searched the property afterward and found dozens of rats and many holes, cracks and spaces in the walls and floors that “allowed the rats to move freely.”